Barbie releases female role model dolls to mark Women's Day

Mattel introduced dolls in two separate series of Barbies: "Inspiring Women", based on historical figures, and new additions to its "Shero" line of dolls named for inspirational contemporary women.

Other women who are having dolls in their likeness include United States snowboarder Chloe Kim, Australian conservationist Bindi Irwin, the French chef Helene Darroze and the Chinese actress and philanthropist Guan Xiaotong. Barbie has held many careers, but Mattel says actually seeing real examples of women in these fields makes all the difference.

Barbie is showing the world that there girls can be anything they want and that they can have different interests, skills and passions, yet still be leaders with their newest Global Role Models collection.

Johnson helped break race and gender barriers in the 1950s when she joined a pool of black women hired by NASA to work as "human computers".

With this collection, which is being announced in honor of International Women's Day on Thursday, Barbie continues to celebrate globally recognized trailblazers.

The effort to inspire the next generation of women with modern-day female heroes is part of Barbie's Shero program, which began in 2015.

For a feminist icon who so avidly fought against Western beauty ideals, some see it as a major slap in the face for the artist to be portrayed as so, well, Barbie-like.

Fan Jason Preston has started a Change.org petition, which as of Wednesday morning had garnered more than 150 signatures, calling for Barbie maker Mattel to create such a doll. "Growing up, my biggest role models were my mum and Muhammad Ali - there were no female boxers in (the) media when I was a kid, and I might have discovered my passion sooner if I'd seen other women boxing". Each doll comes with information regarding the women who inspired them and their contribution to society. Ava DuVernay, Misty Copeland, and Gabby Douglas are women who were honored by the line in the past.

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